I am a 22-year-old student-athlete, and now blogger (yay!), just trying to impart a little wisdom from my fitness trials and tribulations. Breakfast food is my favorite, I love my animals, and I am a self-professed coffee and caffeine addict. I’m one semester away from graduating with my bachelor’s degree in mass communications, with a focus in journalism and media studies, and I work part-time as a promotional ambassador.

Somehow, you’ve stumbled across this page. Maybe it was a Google search, maybe you just clicked one link, that lead to another link, that lead to ANOTHER link, but that really doesn’t matter. All that does matter is you’re here-and it’s going to benefit you.

At this point, I’m willing to bet a certain question has crossed your mind…why should you believe anything I’m saying? I don’t blame you-skepticism is good! In the day and age of food and dieting myths and workouts that promise impossible feats, a little doubt is healthy.

I have been around and involved in sports since a very young age. My mother is a vegan and avid runner, my father a frequent visitor to what he calls “Iron City” (AKA our garage weight room). Since the age of four, I have trained in Olympic-Style Taekwondo, which is a full-contact Korean martial arts. Olympic-style is continuous, which means that unlike Karate Kid or “point-style” fighting, it doesn’t get reset after every point and is fought in matches with timed rounds. Since it’s a sport with weight classes, nutrition plays a very important role in my life. I got my black belt when I was nine, and have been fighting on a competitive level for over 13 years.

Left: In blue, fighting in Puerto Rico. Right: Warming up at Spanish Training Camp in Madrid.

Like most athletes, I’ve had my fair share of injuries. I have had to make adjustments throughout the bad years for what can only be described as “loose ankles.” I’ve rolled them semi-consistently since middle school, but it wasn’t anything too serious until this past year. During a training last February (2014), I tore two of the ligaments in my ankle and had a complete lateral ankle reconstruction.

Ankle journey via photo collage: 1 & 2) night of injury, 3) getting my mummy-prewrap off, 4) my joker-scar.

The ensuing physical therapy and journey back to fitness was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but some of the positive things I took away from it was more knowledge of preventative training, a stronger passion for fitness and nutrition, and a loooooooot of motivation. That saying about not knowing how much you miss something until it’s taken away from you is spot on.

Seriously.

Crutches are the devil.

Now that that’s out of the way….

Now that I’ve shared a little more about myself and my background, hopefully you are a little reassured, and you can continue reading without raising any eyebrows. This blog is going to serve as your little online guide for fitness and nutrition. I’ll cover healthy recipes, including these wonderful little things called banana-coconut carb-free pancakes. Yep. They’re freaking AMAZING. Over the years as a competitive athlete, I have accumulated a lot of healthy, easy snack and meal recipes. Some are focused on being less caloric, some are protein-packed but they all are fantastic and delicious.

Another topic I’m going to delve into is everything-fitness. At home workouts, cardio, conditioning, preventative, you name it-I’ve got something for you! While I do have some full-body workouts up my sleeves, my specialties are definitely legs, abdominals and cardio.
What can I say? I’m a Taekwondo girl, we’re kickers!

I’ll also cover some other nifty tips, like how to deal with being sore, my favorite fitness gear and clothing, and things going on in the sport’s world today, like the deflated-football debacle going on this week. I don’t promise to be completely unbiased, but hey, it’s my blog, right? My opinions, my take. (Boo Patriots!)

Since you’ve made it this far, bookmark me! I think that’s the proper blog term. Save me, favorite me, whatever it may be-come back. I promise if you do, I will find some way to improve your fitness and nutrition know-how, whether it be through your stomach, or your workout.